The company said it appointed artists including Ryan Ding, Ju Jingyi, Liu Yuning (pictured), JC-T, and Karry Wang as Super VIP ambassadors during the quarter
China-headquartered music streaming company Tencent Music Entertainment generated total revenue of RMB 7.90 billion (USD $1.15 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, up 7.3% year-over-year.
That’s according to the company’s Q1 earnings report, published on Tuesday (May 12), for the three months ending March 31.
TME’s overall quarterly revenues were driven by a 12.2% YoY jump in the company’s music-related services division, which generated RMB 6.51 billion (USD $944 million) in Q1. The division was renamed from “online music services” starting in Q1 2026.
Membership services revenue, meanwhile, covering music streaming subscriptions and other paid membership programs, rose6.6% YoYto RMB 4.57 billion (USD $662 million).
TME attributed the growth primarily to “continuous expansion of SVIP membership privileges,” including early access to concerts and artist-related merchandise.
The company’s SVIP (Super VIP) program is a higher-priced subscription tier. Those SVIP subscribers pay approximately RMB 40 (USD $5.72) per month, compared to the standard subscription price of RMB 8 (USD $1.14) — roughly five times the revenue per user.
TME’S Q1 2026 IN SUMMARY:
Tencent Music Entertainment‘s overall revenues were up 7.3% YoY to RMB 7.90 billion (USD $1.15 billion) in Q1 2026;
Music-related services revenues were up 12.2% YoY to RMB 6.51 billion (USD $944 million).
Within that figure, membership services revenues were up 6.6% YoY to RMB 4.57 billion (USD $662 million).
Non-subscription music services revenues were up 28.0% YoY to RMB 1.94 billion (USD $282 million).
Adjusted EBITDA was up 10.5% YoY to RMB 2.83 billion (USD $410 million).
The ‘membership services‘ business line highlighted in the company’s Q1 earnings report is a new, broader category than the ‘music subscriptions’ line TME reported in prior quarters – meaning the two figures are not directly comparable.
TME said the growth was partly driven by the launch of new membership programs, including Bubble, WeverseDM (the premium messaging service from HYBE’s Weverse superfan platform, which launched on QQ Music in November), and fan-club memberships.
This is also the first quarter in which TME has not disclosed subscriber numbers, monthly active users, or average revenue per paying user – metrics it discontinued reporting following its full-year 2025 results in March.
When TME reported its full-year 2025 results in March, it revealed that its Super VIP tier had surpassed 20 million subscribers, up from 15 million at the end of Q2 2025 and 10 million in Q3 2024.
At that time, the company reported total paying music subscribers of 127.4 million as of Q4 2025.
TME said on Tuesday that it has appointed artists including Ryan Ding, Ju Jingyi, Liu Yuning, JC-T, and Karry Wang as Super VIP ambassadors during the quarter, and introduced tailored bundles for K-pop artists including BLACKPINK, EXO, and IVE – combining digital albums with physical collectibles, including NFC cards.
TME also launched what it called its “inaugural Fan Club membership” with Silence Wang, integrating priority ticketing and merchandise “to meet demand for super-premium experiences”.
Beyond membership services, TME‘s non-subscription music services, encompassing live concerts, advertising, and merchandise, grew 28.0% YoY to RMB 1.94 billion (USD $282 million).
The company said revenues from live performances achieved “triple-digit year-over-year growth” in the quarter, with flagship concerts staged for BABYMONSTER in Taiwan, China, and NCT WISH in Hong Kong, China.
TME said it renewed partnerships with JVR Music, Linfair Records, and MOK-A-BYE BABY MUSIC LTD. during the quarter – securing continued access to artists including Jay Chou, Karen Mok, Harlem Yu, and Angela Zhang – and deepened its partnership with TF Entertainment through 30-day early release windows.
TME also pointed to what it called a “strengthened partnership” with Jay Chou for his digital album, Children of the Sun, where, according to TME, “combined digital and physical benefits drove strong engagement and generated over RMB100 million in sales”.
Revenue from social entertainment services and others – TME‘s legacy karaoke and live-streaming division – continued to decline, falling 11.0% YoY to RMB 1.38 billion (USD $200 million).
Music-related services now account for 82.5% of TME‘s total revenue, continuing a shift that has seen the company pivot toward concerts, merchandise, and fan-based services to offset the long-running decline in social entertainment.
“While AI is broadening participation in content creation, it does not replace human creativity and, in many ways, reinforces the scarcity and intrinsic value of premium IP – which remains central to deeper engagement and greater wallet share.”
Cussion Pang, TME
Cussion Pang, Executive Chairman of TME, said: “This quarter’s steady results reflect the effectiveness of our holistic approach to the music ecosystem.
“By expanding how we serve and engage our audience, we have built a more diversified and resilient model, supported by continued strong growth beyond membership services in our music related business.”
He added: “While AI is broadening participation in content creation, it does not replace human creativity and, in many ways, reinforces the scarcity and intrinsic value of premium IP – which remains central to deeper engagement and greater wallet share.
“Rooted in strong copyright protection, we are committed to channeling this value to elevate the creative economy, unlock new opportunities across the music industry, and drive enduring long-term value.”
“During the quarter, we delivered continued improvement in SVIP adoption and user engagement. Together, these initiatives position us to compete effectively while driving scalable growth and durable monetization over time.”
Ross Liang, TME
Ross Liang, CEO of TME, said: “As we operate in an increasingly competitive landscape, we remain focused on strengthening the resilience of our platform.
“Anchored by our content-and-platform dual engine, we continue to bolster differentiation, drive engagement, and expand user lifetime value.
“Leveraging Tencent’s ecosystem, we are broadening user reach and deepening penetration, while advancing a tiered subscription strategy to better address diverse user needs.
“During the quarter, we delivered continued improvement in SVIP adoption and user engagement. Together, these initiatives position us to compete effectively while driving scalable growth and durable monetization over time.”
TME also highlighted AI music in its earnings report. It said AI-generated songs accounted for “a growing share of daily new releases” on its platforms, and that its AI tools were being used to “lower production barriers and accelerate workflows” for creators.
The company added that “high-quality, authorized AI covers reintroduce classic works to new audiences and drive incremental engagement with original tracks”.
As reported last week, TME’s ESG report outlined the company’s emerging approach to AI-generated content on its platforms.
TME said that it now identifies and tags content containing AIGC (AI-generated content), using audio models, and implements actions based on its governance rules. The company said it has established “a regular content security assessment and detection mechanism” for AI-generated content.
The company revealed in the ESG report that it took down over 27,000 songs last year specifically involved in what it categorizes as “songtheft,” “songlaundering,” and “trendhijacking” — three distinct forms of so-called “gray-market” manipulation that the company says are “becoming increasingly covert and complex.”
TME also said it has deployed multimodal recognition technologies including audio fingerprinting, voiceprintrecognition, melodycomparison, and textsimilarity analysis for continuous monitoring of its catalog.
Most recently, in the company’s calendar Q1 earnings presentation, TME also highlighted a new collaboration with Tencent‘s Weixin Video Account to create a “seamless funnel” converting casual background music discovery on the short-video platform into music streaming on TME‘s apps.Music Business Worldwide
